The Edmonton Oilers are going to be very young in 11-12 no matter what they do this summer. The graduating rookie class of 10-11 is likely to be the biggest and best for many years to come.

The club can also boast a large group of players in their early 20’s, kids who are extremely likely to be better in these next few seasons.

How many rookies can we reasonably expect to see from the Oilers in 11-12?

10-11 Rookies

Taylor Hall 65gp, 22-20-42

Jordan Eberle 62gp, 17-22-39

MPS 73gp, 12-17-29

Linus Omark 44gp, 3-18-21

Devan Dubnyk 30gp, 2.87 .911

Jeff Petry 28gp, 1-2-3

Six rookies who are likely to have an enormous impact (as a group) on the NHL Oilers from now through the end of this decade. This group, added to youngsters like Sam Gagner, Andrew Cogliano and Theo Peckham should give the Oilers a nice group to build around next season.

What’s missing? Centermen who can win faceoffs, size and grit (and experience plus depth but Rome wasn’t built in a day). Which is (I believe) the reason Teemu Hartikainein and Chris Vande Velde are such interesting callups.

Teemu Hartikainen 5gp, 1-1-2, 2pims -2 8 shots

Chris Vande Velde 5gp, 5gp, 0-0-0 0pims -2 2 shots 64% faceoffs

Crazy, huh? Vande Velde won 32 of his first 50 faceoffs after being called up and Hartikainen uses his big body effectively.

We know the Oilers have a lottery pick coming and there’s a large graduating class led by Anton Lander, Curtis Hamilton and Martin Marincin. However, along with the kids jumping from junior and Europe there looks to be a few AHL players who will push for jobs.

Interesting.

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